Vicky Rodriguez fries tortillas at the new Macario's restaurant on Olson Road in Boardman.<BR><I>Staff photo by Erin Mills</i>

The smell of fresh paint mingles with cooking spices at the new Macario’s in Boardman. In the kitchen, cooks busily prepare meat, chop vegetables and fry Mexican breads for their grand opening today – just in time for Boardman’s Cinco de Mayo celebration.

Macario’s owners, Armando and Vicky Rodriguez, said they decided to open another restaurant when La Serenata, which previously occupied the space under MJ’s Motel on Olson Road, went out of business a few months ago.

“I want to grow my business, and this is a good opportunity to do that,” Armando Rodriguez said.

The couple will serve free soft drinks all day in honor of their first day.

Maria Arceo, wife of chef Hector Arceo – and the Rodriguez’ sister-in-law – said she didn’t quite know what to expect of their opening day. While Hermiston’s Macario’s sits in the middle of town on 11th Street, the new restaurant is a little off the beaten path, across the road from ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston.

“It’s exciting, but I’m a little nervous,” she said.

Armando Rodriguez came to the United States from Mazatlan 25 years ago. Vicky Rodriguez is from the state of Jalisco, where many of their recipes originate. They’ve both been in the restaurant business for about 12 years.

“I’m the owner, but actually I do everything,” Armando Rodriguez said. “I wash dishes, I cook and I manage the restaurant.”

The Rodriguez’ spruced the new space up, but they kept the enormous Mexican mural on the restaurant’s west wall. Armando Rodriguez said since the previous owners paid so much for it, they could have taken the mural with them, wall and all. But Armando Rodriguez and the building’s owner decided to purchase the mural together. It portrays an old-fashioned Mexican village and a typical courtship scene in bright pastels.

Armando Rodriguez said he’s hired four people to work at the Boardman location. It will be a challenge to run both restaurants at once, he said, but he and Vicky Rodriguez will share the load, just as they’ve always done, he said.

“My wife in one, and me in the other,” he said.

Macario’s in Boardman, at 302 Olson Road, will be open today and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. All other days, its hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.